With the close of this summer’s transfer period in Europe a new record was set.

Just looking at the top five leagues (England, Italy, France, Germany, Spain) an astonishing $ 5.2 billion USD was spent, and that is for only one of the two annual transfer periods. The five-year growth in these five leagues is exactly 100%, starting with $ 2.6 billion in 2013.

The breakdown by league in 2017 is as follows:

England: $ 1.8 billion

Italy: $ 1.2 billion

France: $ 0.8 billion

Germany: $ 0.7 billion

Spain: $ 0.7 billion

A single player record was set by Paris St. Germain acquiring Neymar from Barcelona for $ 262 million. That more than doubled the previous record $ 120 million Man United paid for Pogba in 2016. Ronaldo at $ 110 million in 2009 looks like a bargain, even adjusted for inflation.

These transfer fees are fuelled by foreign ownership money flowing into clubs, mostly from China, the Middle East, and the USA. There is a financial fair play system that is supposed to keep this escalation in check. The system is intricate but in essence it requires clubs to spend no more than $ 45 million more on transfers than they take in over the past three years. I am not sure how that is supposed to help as it only enforces a difference, not any maximums.

The result is that the clubs who attract the most money are buying the “best” players. The players take a significant share of the fees and huge salaries. Most important, player agents are making exorbitant commissions. Will buying expensive players win championships? Not in my opinion. It still takes good coaching, team chemistry, and 11 players on the field supporting each other. How much does the potential money from transfers play in the players’ heads? Will a player really support a Neymar so that Neymar’s value and income increases further?

The other side effect is a whole new economy in soccer. Clubs can make more money through transfer fees than through ticket and merchandising sales. Some examples:

In 2016 Borussia Dortmund paid $ 18 million for Ousmane Dembele and sold him for $ 120 million to Barcelona in 2017. That’s more profit on one deal than the club made in the past five years combined through soccer operations.

This year Dortmund paid $ 8 million for 17-year-old talent Jadon Sancho to Man City. The strategy is to develop Jadon and then generate a transfer fee of $ 100 million or more in three or four years.

And lastly, clubs are recruiting and developing local talent in the hope of hitting a future transfer jackpot.

So while the fans are cheering their team and enjoy high quality soccer on the pitch, club management are focusing on growing transfer fees, or growing soccer players’ value. At some point we need to wonder about the purpose of soccer. Is it sport or corporate business? Can it really be both?

I just received a complimentary e-mail on our soccer web site and training materials from the owner of Coachable in Australia. Allan Edwards also pointed me to a very important concept he is advocating: The benefits of coaching athletes in a 1 on 1 environment. You can find more about that here: 1 on 1 Soccer Coaching.

This caused me to reflect on my own coaching experience, including my current role of being the goalkeeping coach for a competitive U 12 team. I realized that the one experience I haven’t shared much is the 1 on 1 coaching I have done to supplement team training sessions. It’s not that I haven’t done much of it, quite the opposite, I have done lots of it. But until I read Allan’s material it didn’t occur to me that coaches MAY NOT be doing this.

WHY 1 ON 1 ?

In team training sessions we tend to run soccer drills in various size groups. It seems the most practical way to teach a team and the most relevant to incorporate game situations. However, at any level of soccer, even at the Pro level, it becomes fairly obvious that not all players execute technique or tactics in the same way. Some are better than others, some are more motivated for certain drills, some are physically more suited for certain exercises. Which gets me back to our FOUR PILLARS OF SOCCER (TM) – Technical Skills, Tactical Development, Physical Fitness, Mental Fitness. All soccer players are different in how they learn, process, and execute any four of these pillars. So augmenting team training with individual coaching is critical. It allows you to understand what prevents an individual from perfecting a particular aspect of the game.

HOW 1 ON 1?

What I have always done is keep notes on every player. I evaluate them against the FOUR PILLARS, scoring then against various technical skills, tactical understanding/execution, physical condition, and mental approach to games and practices. I have done this in an age and competitive appropriate level from U3 to University teams. This provides a fairly robust understanding of the priorities for each player.

I then plan some individual coaching into a practice session. This is where a knowledgable assistant or co-coach is extremely valuable. One coach can run the team drill while the other can take individuals aside for some 1 on 1 coaching. In addition I have offered individuals to stay after practice/game, come before practice/game. I have also slotted special sessions focussing on a particular element of soccer, such as shooting technique. The players requiring extra development are invited.

The key is to understand why an individual is challenged executing a certain skill or tactical move. It could be lack of comprehension, body mechanics, lack of experience, etc. Once the reason has been identified then the proper corrective actions can be developed and trained. At this level of detail it is easy to understand that 1 on 1 coaching is not a common occurrence in a team practice environment. So some structured thought and plan has to be incorporated into the soccer seasonal plan.

The one position that makes it somewhat easier to coach 1 on 1 is that of goalkeeper. Typically a youth team has two keepers, a pro team three. Smart teams will have a goalkeeper coach and there is typically a fair amount of goalkeeper training set aside during a team practice session. By definition it is 1 on 2/3 and there is plenty of opportunity for some 1 on 1.

Case Study

I will use my current example of goalkeeper training as a small case study.

Regarding technical skills my two goalkeepers were dropping catchable high balls consistently. On first glance nothing seemed wrong. They got in position behind the ball, reacted fast enough to the ball, and had their hands on the ball at the right point. They were correctly taught the theory of forming a W with their hands and upon close inspection consistently formed that W. Until I realized that their hands were too small to get a good grip on the ball with their thumbs as closely together as shown in this picture.

So I suggested to “open up” the W a bit, spreading their thumbs and getting their little finger around the ball more. After a few tries to get used to it they stopped dropping the ball. So what happened with these competitive U12 keepers who had received specialized training in soccer goalkeeping academies? What happened was that the academy has adult instructors who showed them the proper W grip, with their big hands. The group contained players of all ages and sizes and the larger players had no problem. But the instructors never realized that the precise hand position might pose a problem for players with smaller hands and fingers.

Another example was focussing on the ready position for various type of game situations. Goalies know that the closer the attacker is the more they have to crouch down, bending their knees. One of my keepers couldn’t crouch as low as necessary. I thought there was some laziness or lack of comprehension involved. When I took the keeper aside and talked about it new information came to light. The hamstrings hurt when crouching. There was no prior injury and I hadn’t observed the issue earlier in the season. An examination by a physiotherapist revealed structural problems in the lower body which was getting worse with growth spurts, but which can be addressed with therapy. In the mean time the keeper and I developed a different technique of stopping close-in shots to compensate for the lack of “crouchability”.

I am sure that you will have ample examples of players not doing exactly what they should. Before you pass judgment on their abilities, find out what is causing the issue and offer the player some methods of correcting it. The player will develop to a higher potential and the team will be more successful

A major European soccer league analyzed frequency of injuries for soccer players. This information can be used for coaches of all teams to put injury prevention programs in place where possible.

Injury Frequency:

Upper Thigh/Quad 26.4%

Knee 18.0%

Ankle 13.1%

Lower Leg/Calf 10.1%

Back 9.1%

Foot 6.6%

Head 4.5%

Hip 2.5%

Shoulder 1.9%

Pelvis 1.8%

Groin 1.6%

Neck 1.2%

Hand 1.0%

Buttocks 0.8%

Arms 0.8%

Stomach 0.5%

Chest 0.2%

Not surprisingly 67.6% of injuries are to the legs, with muscles accounting for 36.5% and joints for 31.1%. The muscle injuries can occur as a result of overuse or impact. Overuse can be prevented by proper stretching routines as suggested in each of our practice books. Impact injuries are not preventable by stretching per se, but stretching can help with a speedier recovery process. Joint injuries tend to be the results of accidents (poor landing after jumps, impacts from fouls, but also overuse). The same can be said for the injuries to other body parts.

It has also been observed that injury profiles vary greatly between teams. Some teams lose significantly more player-games due to injuries than others. Many theories have been postulated but nothing conclusive has been published.

My personal belief is that the entire program of balancing practice intensity, injury prevention programs, nutrition, and injury recovery programs can make a significant difference.

No matter at what level you coach, develop a program for the health of your players. At the very minimum have your players stretch before games and practices, have a cool down routine after a game, and have an injury treatment program in place (ice packs available, tensor bandages, etc.).

As noted earlier this year the summer of 2017 is full of international soccer competitions. Here is a summary of results and progress to date.

U 21 Mens EURO

Spain defeated Italy 3-1 in semi-final #1 and Germany defeated England 4-3 on penalty kicks after a riveting 2-2 extra time tie. In the final Germany played a disciplined defensive game to hold on to a 1-0 lead and win the championship.

Confederations Cup

After battling to a goalless draw after 120 minutes Chile defeated Portugal 3-0 in penalty kicks in one semi-final. In the other Germany’s team of FIFA 2018 prospects ran over Mexico’s A-Team 4-1. The final was a group stage rematch between Germany and Chile with Germany emerging victorious 1-0.

U 19 Mens EURO

Portugal defeated Netherlands 1-0 and England defeated Czech Republic 1-0 in the semis. England went on to win the tournament 2-1 against Portugal.

Concacaf Gold Cup

With the group stage completed the tournament is set for the quarter finals. The match-ups are:

Costa Rica v. Panama

United States v. El Salvador

Mexico v. Honduras

Jamaica v. Canada

Although ranked lowest in FIFA (100), watch out for Canada to provide some upsets.

Women EURO 2017

Group stage play started this weekend. Look for Germany to run the table all the way to the finals.

I thought it is time to pay tribute to the continued growth and success of women’s soccer. It is not too long ago that young girls had to play on mixed teams and once they became teenagers there were very few options. There were no women’s teams at the professional, college, or amateur levels. No Women’s World Cup, Euro, or Olympic soccer.

So here are some statistics about women’s soccer today.

The women’s FIFA world cup started in China in 1991. Average attendance was 19,615 and the final game drew a spectacular crowd of 65,000 fans. The ensuing world cups were also successful, average attendance in brackets:

Sweden 1995 (4,316)

USA 1999 (37,319) – Final 90,185

USA 2003 (21,239)

China 2007 (31,169)

Germany 2011 (26,428)

Canada 2015 (25,664) – opening game 53,058

Around the globe there are now professional women’s leagues in over 70 countries. This provides a development path for young aspiring soccer players that never existed before. Attendance at professional league games still has room to grow. It will take some time until the excitement from major tournaments or national cup finals takes a foothold. Here are some leagues with approximate average attendances:

USA (3,000)

Germany (1,500)

England (1,000)

Sweden (1,000)

France (500)

Italy (500)

From my own experience as youth and university women’s team coach I encourage everyone to attend games. The pace is slower than the men’s version and that is often misinterpreted as a lower level of soccer. That couldn’t be more wrong. The competition is just as intense, emotions run just as high, the desire to win is second to none. The slower pace in many ways allows the demonstration of skills and tactics more so than in a high paced game. You can see plays develop and techniques being used without the harsh pressure of the men’s game. So for students of the game it is definitely worth watching high level women’s soccer.

Let’s hope the success story continues and that there will be attendances in the 20,000s in a few years.

As a trained goalkeeper I enjoy coaching goalkeepers of all ages, but in particular young and motivated youth goalies. Currently I am coaching the keepers for a girls U12 competitive team. As we were doing drills one goalie wasn’t comfortable punching the ball because her gloves hurt her hand. The gloves she had were of the style that has air cushioned plastic inserts on the top of the gloves including the fingers. The pressure of the plastic hurt her hand when punching the ball. So we decided to set out and find a new pair of gloves.

That wasn’t an easy task since the variety, styles, brands, and prices were incredible. She tried on many different ones to find the ones that work best for her. As we went through the process I suggested some criteria for selecting gloves to help with the decision and I recommend using these for any goalkeeper. In order of priority these criteria are:

Fit

Ball handling, control, feel

Dry grip

Wet grip

Cushioning

Fit

It is really important that the glove fits the hand perfectly. Remember that gloves were an invention to help goalkeepers. When I played we didn’t use gloves and our hands directly handled the ball. There was immediate ball feel and control. So from a fit perspective gloves should be as close as possible to giving the feel of “no gloves”. That means they should fit snug, not too tight and not too loose. This is particularly important for kids and youth players. Quite often I see gloves that are too long in the fingers. The rationale is that the keeper will grow into them and they should last a few seasons. Financially understandable but not good for the keeper. As the hands grow, the gloves need to grow with them. If that means to buy a new pair every year, or even every six months, so be it. There are other ways to save money. So try lots of gloves until you find a few pairs that fit just right.

Ball Handling, Control, Feel

The ultimate ball handling, control, and feel is with bare hands in dry conditions. Fingers can flex without impediment, grip is perfect, and feel of the ball is accurate. If you wondering what I mean by “feel” ask any goalie and they will explain it. Some of it is physical and some of it is mental (confidence). Therefore the objective is to find gloves that mimic bare hands as much as possible. That means the gloves should not be too thick and padded such that bending the fingers is too difficult. Lack of flexibility results in goalies parrying or dropping the ball more than they should instead of holding on to it. The plastic air cushions on the back of the glove as described for my goalie need to be considered carefully. The theory is that they provide extra support to avoid overextending or breaking the fingers and to help with punching the ball. But they can also be stiff and reduce flexibility or hurt the hand when the ball hits them. So be sure that your goalie is comfortable with them and can handle the ball properly. Don’t be afraid to toss a ball at the keeper in the store and let them catch, pick up, and punch it.

Dry Grip

The gloves should allow the ball to be gripped without slipping off or through the gloves. The actual soccer ball construction plays a role in this as well. Especially in youth soccer ball surfaces vary from shiny/polished to ribbed or embossed. Any surface other than shiny should not be a problem for any glove. So try them with a shiny ball. I have observed many goalies put water or spit on their gloves in dry conditions. I don’t see a technical reason for it but as long as it does no harm I have no objection. I believe it is more psychological than practical. Dry grip ranks ahead of wet grip because more games are played in dry conditions than wet conditions.

Wet Grip

Gloves should absorb some water and their surface should remain “sticky” to handle a wet ball. This is probably something you can’t test during the purchase process, but it shouldn’t be a major issue either. Most gloves will be fine. This is the one area where soccer gloves outperform bare hands, and it was one of the original reason for the invention of soccer goalie gloves.

Cushioning

You may be surprised to find cushioning at # 5 of my list of priorities, particularly since all gloves are cushioned and often sold on that benefit, performance, and difference to other gloves. But remember cushioning was secondary in glove development to wet grip. In my experience cushioning has not prevented any broken bones. Goalies can break wrists from hard shots, but there is little cushioning on the wrist. There are straps and they are for stability, which is good. A hard shot and unfortunate hand position may still cause breaks. The top of the hand rarely breaks. Fingers do break or overextend but that is mostly an unfortunate position of finger relative to the ball. Cushioning will take the sting out of hard shots and avoid some minor potential bruising. It is therefore a source of comfort and confidence. So cushioned gloves are a good thing and I recommend cushioning highly. But not at the expense of fit, ball handling, or grip.

Conclusion

Like getting the right shoes for optimal ball control and kicking, getting the right gloves to optimize goalkeeper performance is critical. No matter what coaches, parents, or peers think it is up to the goalkeeper to determine the right pair of gloves for them. They may not be the fanciest or most expensive, or they may be. Have your keeper try them in store. If they turn out not to be the best, buy another pair considering what you learned. You might want two pairs – one for practice and one for the game. Chances are that gloves get used more in training, which means they must be the best possible, just as for the game.

European soccer leagues are winding down and international tournaments are starting up. Here is a recap of what’s happening in the world of soccer.

Europe:

England: Chelsea champions and joined by Tottenham and Man. City in 2017/18 Champions League. Liverpool needs to qualify for CL. Arsenal. Man. U, and Everton qualify for Europa league. Hull, Middlesborough and Sunderland are relegated.

Germany: Bayern is champion and joined by Leipzig and Dortmund in the CL. Hoffenheim needs to qualify. Cologne and Berlin are in the Europa league. Darmstadt and Ingolstadt are relegated, Wolfsburg will go into relegation play-off.

Spain: Real Madrid clinched the championship, Barcelona and Atletico joining in the CL, Sevilla needs to qualify. Villareal and San Sebastion are in the Europa league. Gijon, Osasuna, Granada are relegated.

Italy: One match day left, but Juventus has clinched the championship, AS Rome (2nd) or Napoli (3rd) will directly go to CL or to qualifier. Lazio, Bergamo, AC Milan will play in the Europa League.

The Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid in Cardiff takes place June 3rd. The Europa League final between Ajax and Manchester United in Solna takes place on May 24th.

International:

The UEFA U17 Mens Euro finished on 19 May Spain defeating England 4-1 on penalties after a regulation 2-2 tie with Spain equalizing in the 6th minute of added time. England defeated Turkey in the semi-final and Spain defeated Germany on PKs.

The FIFA U20 Mens World Cup has just started in South Korea. It is played in 6 groups. Four groups have played their first game and a few upsets have already happened: Venezuela defeated Germany 2-0, Sambia defeated Portugal 2-1. Follow the tournament on http://fifa.com.

The Confederation Cup in Russia starts 17 June, featuring all continental champions plus the world cup winner and the 2018 world cup host. Group A features Portugal, Russia, New Zealand and Mexico. Group B contestants are Germany, Cameroon, Chile, Australia.

Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Portugal has been elected FIFA’s best player several times. He is a prolific, consistent top goal scorer in the Spanish La Liga and for his Portuguese national team. There always have been prolific goal scorers and there are others besides Ronaldo today – Messi, Lewandowski, Dzeko, to name just a few. But I want to talk about Ronaldo, because he has just accomplished something truly remarkable in the UEFA Champions League.

In the quarter-final he scored five of the six Real Madrid goals against Bayern Munich, both goals in the 2-1 win in Munich and a clean hat trick in the clinching 4-2 OT win in Madrid. He followed this by scoring all three goals in the first semi-final vs. Atletico Madrid. That is eight goals in three games at the very highest level of soccer. While Madrid and Ronaldo supporters are ecstatic about his feat(s), one might ask “How does he do it?”. Or, “How does the other team let this happen, time and time again?”.

Ronaldo is no secret, his skills are well-known, his danger in front of opposing goals is globally recognized. Ancelotti, coach of Bayern, and Simeone of Atletico are excellent and very intelligent coaches. They have superb defenders on their team. How can they let Ronaldo score this many goals in critical games? As stated earlier, Ronaldo is representative of a host of prolific goal scorers and Bayern and Madrid represent teams who get scored on by these exceptional players.

I look to the system of play and game strategy for answers to these questions. Today’s soccer relies on zonal defending while until the 1990s defenses mostly employed man marking strategies.

Zonal defending essentially means that defenders are responsible for a certain space on the field and they need to challenge any opponent that enters their space, with or without the ball. As attackers move around the attacking areas they get passed from defender to defender.

Man-marking means that a defender is assigned a specific opponent and when they enter the attacking area they get “marked” by a specific person.

In the days of man-marking there were also prolific goal scorers, Gerd Muller of Germany, Eusebio of Portugal, oele of Brasil, etc. So man-marking wasn’t the answer. In fact zonal defending was developed in the hope to control these exceptional attackers.

I believe it is time to admit that zonal defending has failed from the perspective of stopping the Ronaldos of the world. And that is the crux of the issue – top coaches today have accepted zonal defending as THE GOLD STANDARD and they will not move away from it. I am convinced that within their game preparation against Real, Ancelotti and Simeone had a plan to contain Ronaldo. I am equally convinced that the team bought into the game plan and was certain it would work. But it didn’t.

Should they have man-marked Ronaldo? Perhaps. But before I offer a suggestion, a brief analysis of what makes Ronaldo (and his goal scoring peers) so effective. They are the best at the Seven Speeds of Soccer, their reading of the game, anticipation and perception speeds, decision-making speeds, movement speeds, and game action speeds are superb. They show up in the spaces between the zonal defenders at the right time ready to strike. Look at the space Ronaldo had for his third goal against Atletico – incredible. It’s not because the defenders were bad, it’s because Ronaldo is that good.

What is required, in my opinion, is a rethinking on how to defend against these exceptional players. I suggest a mixed zonal/man-marking approach. Play zonal defense everywhere except within 20 m of your own goal. As soon as Ronaldo (and his peers) come within 20 m of the goal, assign one of the defenders as a man-marker, staying tight to the attacker. Have covering defenders in case the “marker” gets beat by one of their trade mark 1v1 moves (check Messi, Robben). As marking and covering defenders are consumed, fill in the zones they are vacating with retreating midfielders. And always be goal side to block the shot.

Coaching pride might prevent such a strategy, but what is better – Munich and Atletico playing a conservative defensive game and advance, or sticking to their system and get eliminated?

If you’re a regular TV or live viewer of soccer you may at times be annoyed with the interruptions of the game. Frequent stops due to fouls, injuries, throw-ins, free kicks, goals, substitutions, etc. are one thing, the length of them are another. Time wasting by the winning team can add to the frustration, especially if you support the other team.

So are we justified in feeling cheated out of 90 minutes (plus added time) of soccer?

I just came across an analysis of the four major leagues in Europe. The conclusion is that the net playing time averages between 54 and 57 minutes:

Italy: 57

Germany: 56

England: 56

Spain: 54

That means that there is no active play for ~ 34 minutes or 38% of the alloted time.

The added time after the 90 minutes have expired is between 4 (Germany) and 6.5 (England) minutes. But of course there are stoppages within these as well.

Finally, the average number of game stoppages in these four leagues is 105. Shocking, if you think about it. It means that there is more than one game stoppage every minute. And the average length of each interruption is 20 seconds. Doesn’t sound like much, but try this. Go for a walk and after every 40 seconds stop for 20 seconds.

I have some thoughts on these statistics:

What is the point of a few minutes of added time when the game is halted for 34 minutes?

What would happen if soccer adopted net playing time from ice hockey or basketball? They play 60 minutes and the clock stops at every interruption. Soccer could say we’ll play net 80 minutes, two halves of 40 minutes. It may reduce time-wasting significantly.

Players run 11 km on average per game. It is a mix of sprints, runs, and jogs. So roughly a soccer player runs 11 km/hr. That is significant and is about twice the speed of a brisk walk.

I would advocate for some rule changes:

Play two 40 minute net playing time halves with a 15 minute break. No added time required. I suspect the total elapsed time would not increase by much, there would be fewer interruptions, shorter interruptions, and a better flowing game. Along with that I would allow one 60 second time out per game for each team. As for injuries, I would require any player who lies on the ground for more than 15 seconds to get a mandatory 10 minute medical examination off the pitch. They could be substituted of course.